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Utah football coach suspends entire team, requires teens show good character to play

CBS This Morning

Coach Matt Labrum made a controversial decision to suspend his entire football team for questionable off-field behavior.

To have clear eyes and full hearts, they had to lose.

A Utah high school football coach blindsided his players when he
announced last weekend he was suspending all 80 of them — and warned
that they had to earn their way back onto the squad by showing good
character.

Coach Matt Labrum’s unconventional play wasn’t just about the team’s
on-field record, although they had just come off a crushing loss. He was
more concerned about how the Union High School teens were handling
themselves away from the gridiron after hearing reports of
cyberbullying, bad grades and truancy.

Essentially, they had to earn “the privilege to play.”

“We want student-athletes that are humble to learn and grow through
adversity and success on and off the field,” coaches wrote in a letter
passed out Saturday and obtained by the Deseret News.
“We want a team that others want to associate themselves with and
support; winning isn't the most important criteria for that to happen.”

The uplifting letter also listed five things each player must fulfill
if they want to rejoin the team, which represents the small city of
Roosevelt: They have to make an effort to attend every practice; be on
time; receive no F’s or disciplinary problems in class; do an individual
service project that helps their families; and memorize a quote about
good character — and recite it to a coach.

CBS This Morning

Union High School’s football
team suffered a 40-16 loss at their last game — but that wasn’t what
drive the coaches to bench the entire team.

The expectations shocked some of the kids — and the idea that there could be no more football left some of them in tears.

“When they said we’re going to turn our jerseys in, I thought, ‘Oh,
I’ve never been cut.’ I figured we’d just been cut. There were no more
games. I was sad,” junior Jordan Gurr told the Deseret News.

But Labrum was adamant that his boys needed to refocus.

Earlier this week, he had the benched players do community service.

“We did some service as far as digging weeds and cleaning,” he told CBS News. “On Tuesday, we went to the senior center and played some games with them and listened to their stories.”

CBS This Morning

Players with Union High School’s football team hit the books first to show that they’re ready to get back on the field.

Already, dozens of the players have earned their jerseys back and they’ll be able to return to the field this week.

Some parents were initially upset with Labrum and the other coaches,
but they reconsidered when they saw how their sons were taking the
challenge seriously, the Deseret News said.

“I thought, ‘Why is this a team-type issue when there should be
individuals that should be held accountable?’” parent Jeremy Libberton
griped.

But after reconsidering, “I’m encouraging my boy to stand strong, to
stand with the team and get through it. … If there is not unity with me
and the coach, then I become part of the problem,” he added.

Labrum said he hopes to see a lasting effect on his players each time
they slip on their uniforms so that they understand what they do is
greater than the game.

“I think a lot of lessons were learned this week, (and) I think some
will be learned later in life,” he said. “I think this is something that
we’ll all remember.”

My dad used to coach and if you didnt turn up to training you didnt play....end of. Two superstars didnt think they needed to turn up to training the two nights before their grand final.

They sat on the bench the whole game.....they werent part of the winning team. They ran crying to the management and my father was bought to heel at the next meeting. He quit and they never have won another grand final since....25 years for some entitiled twats.

They also never went on to be national players....they could of but because of their attitude and my fathers respect from the national coaches...they burnt their own bridges.

Ive also been unfortunate enough to be part of teams where the coaches have had nothing but winning in their eyes, to the point where only the great players get time and all the other kids have to watch from the bench. Bad sportsmanship that could of been detrimental to small kids views of sport.

My hubby has a senior on his team that has flat out told the coaches and his team mates that he had to make a choice between football or a gang. Happily he chose football, has become a great leader on the team, a positive role model for the younger boys on the team, and has an excellent chance of going on to play at the college level - he may not move on beyond that, but he'll get an education out of it. All that instead of being a gang banger with no future.

I know a lot of people have a bad opinion of football, the players, and coaches ... I have seen so many positives come from it, but only because the adults in the situation, the coaches, place the emphasis on the kids being STUDENT athletes, and turning out successful young men, not just successful football players.

Quoting quickbooksworm:

This is the basic requirements of my son's karate team. It's too bad more high school coaches don't do this. Maybe Michael Vick and Aaron Hernandez wouldn't have become role models for children...

I personally think this coach deserves a Nobel prize!!! A friend sent this to me last night and I was thrilled! Can you imagine if more coaches, teachers, parents, administration, and the public in general took his lead? LOVE IT!!!

I though HS football players on many teams already had service and grade requirements, as well as requirements about getting to practice on time. I'm glad this coach is enforcing them. For such a drastic measures to be taken, the players must have been pretty out of control for a while.

I though HS football players on many teams already had service and grade requirements, as well as requirements about getting to practice on time. I'm glad this coach is enforcing them. For such a drastic measures to be taken, the players must have been pretty out of control for a while.

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